Maki's Afternoon
by Just.InStories
Summary: Despite Maki wanting to fill her afternoon with some training, two of her friends and classmates have a different idea.


**(AN: Hello! Thank you for reading this story...my first in this fandom! Well...that's a lie, kinda. This is my first published story in this fandom, though I am writing on a lot of stories for it which I hope to publish soon! Regardless, thank you for coming to read it!**

**This is not my best entry, I will admit, as I wrote this in only a hour or two for a community contest on a Discord server I'm joined in (I only had a few hours left so I wrote it as quickly as I could). Recently, I just received news I was one of the winning participants in that contest so I wanted to share my entry with you all!**

**This story is also based on a picture I saw when browsing Reddit by pixiv member 03. Take a look at both the pic and user when you get the chance! **

**And the last thing I wish to say is that for those who're following my profile, I'm sorry the absence of an update on Check-in at the Turnabout. At the moment, I'm waiting for one the artist for one of the chapter's illustrations. Thank you for being patient those who're following that story/my profile!**

**Thank you and enjoy reading!)**

Like every other afternoon, Maki Harukawa's begins with her self-assigned training in her basement.

Unlike every other afternoon, however, there's a knock on the door.

She chooses to ignore it at first. She didn't desire any guests at the moment, after all. Well…she never desired any guests at any moment, but especially not now.

Three or four knocks later, accompanied by two voices shouting her name, she realizes that she's not going to get what she wished for. She grudgingly makes her way to the front door, already readying her shout to go away.

However, when she swings the door open, she finds the shout pausing in her throat. Standing there is two of her classmates: Shuichi Saihara and Kaede Akamatsu. You can say she's friends with the two, who are also known as the fitting and adorable couple of the class.

"What do you want?" She asks plainly, unaffected by their smiling faces.

"Is that any way to greet your friends?" Akamatsu pouts. "We just wanted to hang out! We don't talk or hang around each other much, so I thought we could just come over, y'know?"

"You could've just called, y'know? Could've met up someplace else?"

"W-well…" Kaede trails off, breaking eye contact with Maki. "It's just…we had a feeling you'd say no if we did, so we decided to do a more confrontive method!"

Maki sighs to herself as she shakes her head. As much as she hates to admit it, Kaede's right.

"So, what do you say?"

"No."

Maki immediately begins closing the door, ignoring the loud shout of "Wait!" However, as the door almost comes to a close, she finds it catching on something. When she hears a short yelp coming from what sounds like Shuichi, she's not surprised to find his foot in the doorway when she opens it again. She looks disappointingly at the look of pain on his face.

"Please…Maki…" Saihara begins to pleads between pained breaths.

"Please!" Kaede pleads along with him. "We just wanted to hang out…maybe even cook something together! Don't turn us down like this!"

Harukawa raises a brow. "D-did you say cook something for me?"

"Yes?"

"So…your plan was to not call me so we could 'hang out' but to barge over here in the middle of the afternoon so all three of us could cook something together?"

"Y-yes…" Shuichi answers, hobbling on his good foot.

"We wanted Kaito to come over too," Akamatsu interjects with another comment. "But he started going off about 'being banned from here' and that 'you'd kill him if he steps foot inside your house.' I'm sure he was joking."

"Y-yeah, joking…" Maki trails off. "Sure…let's go with that."

Maki stares at her two classmates for a while, contemplating her decision. Finally, with a sighed breath and a shake of her head, she answers.

"Look. I know that even if I answer no, you'll find a way in here somehow which may even include you annoying me to the point until I say yes…so just…fine."

The female student suddenly finds herself in the tight embrace of Kaede. She's caught by surprise for a second but then just slumps in her hug the next second.

"This is gonna be great, trust me!"

The Ultimate Pianist wastes no time making her way inside the home, leaving her boyfriend outside. Maki and Shuichi make eye contact…Maki soon bearing a deadly stare into the Ultimate Detective. He feels himself tense up as he slowly makes his way past Maki and inside the home.

When the two meet up with Kaede in the kitchen, they catch a look at her anything-but-pleased expression as she stares into Maki's fridge.

"Y-you don't have much in here, huh?"

Maki only shrugs in response, going unnoticed by the pianist. Shuichi joins her by his side and stares into the fridge with her, the worried look seeping on his face now. Then, suddenly, it brightens up slightly. He goes over to a couple of the cupboards and looks through them as if searching for or making sure they have certain somethings.

"What? You see something we can make, Shuichi?" Kaede turns to him.

"Yes…" he answers slowly, making sure they have everything. "I think we can make Apple Curry," he finally says.

"Really? Great!"

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble," Maki interjects. "But do you two know how to make curry from scratch? It can be difficult if you don't know what're you're doing, y'know?"

Harukawa looks at the two expectantly and feels her stomach drop when Kaede averts her eyes from Maki bashfully.

"Well, truth is, I don't cook that often so…I don't really know."

Maki looks at Shuichi.

"U-um…well… My uncle has shown me how to make curry in the past. I don't really remember clearly but we can try to do what I remember and the rest I can…infer?"

Suddenly, Kaede rushes over to Shuichi, entrapping him in a hug. "Oh, thank gosh! You're a lifesaver, Shuichi!"

After a peck on his cheek, the detective begins to blush and stumble on his words. "W-well, let's not…c-celebrate too early, y'know?"

Kaede spends the next minute searching for an apron and settles with the plainly-colored, slightly dirty one improperly stored under the sink while Shuichi brings out all the needed tools and ingredients.

As soon as they both finish doing so, they hear a click of a phone. They turn around to find Maki standing near the kitchen's landline phone.

"Welp, have fun."

"You're…not gonna help us?"

"No. I honestly don't have time- Well, it's more like I don't want to take the time to put up with this. So…see you two in fifteen minutes."

And with that, Maki disappears out of the room.

"Why fifteen minutes exactly?" Kaede cocks her head.

"I guess that's her assumption of when we're going to mess this up?" Shuichi wonders aloud. He drops his head, beginning to mumble. "She's right. I mean…I don't even really know these are the ingredients we need and my inferring can only go so far…"

"Hey," Akamatsu addresses him. The detective looks up pitifully. "Let's not let her attitude get to us, ok? We can do this, ok? Me and you!"

A smile appears on the detective's face. His blush returns as well, especially at the lack of distance between him and Kaede. "R-right."

"So, come on! Tell me what's the first step!"

"U-uh…" Shuichi stammers. "I'm not...entirely sure."

"Hm…well...an apple is involved, right? Maybe we have to boil it?"

Saihara looks at her in surprise, tilting his head as well. "I'm…not sure that would be the case at all."

Kaede casts a doubting look at him, one Shuichi can tell is mostly joking. "Are you sure you're sure that's not the case?"

"Well, no…"

"Come on! That sounds about right so let's try it, ok!"

Kaede searches under one of the cabinets for a pot and eventually finds her prize. Pulling it out, she sets it on the counter as Shuichi stands there in doubt. Eventually, however, he begins to follow Kaede's lead.

A lead that would leave the two standing in front of Maki ashamed after she spent a couple minutes turning the smoke alarm off. A lead that would leave them with a half-burned pot with a pitiful apple sitting at the bottom of it. A lead that would permeate the house with a thick smell of smoke.

Maki just simply taps her foot.

"Maybe…I shouldn't have left you two alone, after all."

"We're so so sorry, Maki," Kaede is the first to speak.

"Really sorry," Shuichi speaks next.

"Yeah, I know. It's just…probably best if I don't allow you two in here again."

"Wait, no!" Kaede jumps up, startling both Maki and Shuichi. "I swear, just give us another chance. We just want to do something nice for you, ok?"

The pianist leans forward closer to Harukawa who leans back some to get distance.

"Maybe we can do it together?"

Maki shakes her head as she takes a glance at the clock. "Well, that won't be really necessary."

"Please?" Kaede starts to beg. "Why not?"

Suddenly, the ring of the doorbell catches Akamatsu off guard as Maki leaves the room. A few minutes later, after what sounds like a short conversation between her and a young male, Maki comes back with square boxes in hand. Her two guests shoot her a surprised look as she places the two boxes on the counter.

"P-pizza?"

"When did you-?"

"When you two started…um…cooking, I guess," Maki cuts Shuichi off.

Kaede and Shuichi casts their shocked glances toward each other before it delves into a thinking one.

"I guess pizza is a lot easier than trying to make something, huh?" Kaede admits. Shuichi nods in agreement. Kaede turns back to Maki. "Do you…have any movies we can watch?"

"I…um, have a few, I guess."

With that, a smile returns back to Kaede's face. It takes some time for Shuichi to follow suit and, as much as she tries to hide it, Maki smiles as well.

"Hey," Shuichi says, as if realizing something. "Maybe we can try inviting Kaito over again? There's enough pizza for everyone."

Maki finds her eye starting to twitch as Saihara makes his way over to the kitchen's phone.

"Wait, no!"

Before she can even process it, she finds herself grabbing at a knife and throwing it at the phone, missing the petrified detective by inches. When Maki gains her senses again, she can't bear herself to look at the terrified Shuichi, frozen in place near the knifed phone.

"I-I'm s-sure…he doesn't want to come over, alright? So, _don't _call him…"

An awkward silence fills the room for some time before Kaede breaks it, picking up the pizza boxes. "Let's…just go find a movie, ok?"

"Y-yeah," Maki agrees. Shuichi remains silent and still but finds himself walking out with Akamatsu when she pulls him by the hand. It takes some time before Maki leaves the kitchen to join them, praying the rest of the afternoon would be normal.


End file.
